, symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Pyle railway station, Bridgend - geograph.org.uk - 4123270.jpg , borough =

Pyle Pyle ( cy, Y Pîl) is a village and community (and electoral ward) in Bridgend county borough, Wales. This large village is served by the A48 road, and lies less than one mile from Junction 37 of the M4 motorway, and is therefore only a half- ...

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

, country = Wales , coordinates = , grid_name =

Grid reference A projected coordinate system, also known as a projected coordinate reference system, a planar coordinate system, or grid reference system, is a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on the Earth using cartesian coordin ...

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Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; cy, Trafnidiaeth Cymru; cy, TrC, label=none) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consi ...

, platforms = 2 , code = PYL , classification = DfT category F2 , mpassengers = , footnotes = Passenger statistics from the

Office of Rail and Road The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...

Pyle railway station is a minor station in

( cy, Y Pîl) in

Bridgend county borough Bridgend County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. The county borough has a total population of 139,200 people, and contains the town of Bridgend, after which it is named. I ...

, south Wales. The station is located at street level at Beach Road in Pyle, from

London Paddington Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great ...

History

The original station at Pyle was opened by the

South Wales Railway The South Wales Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd De Cymru) was a main line railway which opened in stages from 1850, connecting the Great Western Railway from Gloucester to South Wales. It was constructed on the broad gauge. An original aspiration was to ...

in 1850. It was relocated in 1876 and amalgamated with the former Llynvi and Ogmore Railway station of 1865, which served the branch lines to and

Porthcawl Porthcawl (, ) is a town and community on the south coast of Wales in the county borough of Bridgend, west of the capital city, Cardiff and southeast of Swansea. Historically part of Glamorgan and situated on a low limestone headland on the S ...

. In the days of steam Pyle Junction, together with its extensive sidings, was quite an important strategic point on the South Wales railway system, not only for passengers, commuting from or visiting the resort of Porthcawl, but also for freight and bulk traffic, particularly the limestone from local quarries essential for the iron and steel industries. This is evidenced by the fact that during World War II there were two military 'pill-boxes' overlooking its approaches. This station was closed by the

Western Region of British Railways The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right on completion of the "Organising for Quality" initiative on 6 April 1992. The Region consisted principally of ex-Great We ...

in 1964 as part of the notorious

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the M ...

, less than a year after the L&O lines also lost their passenger service (traffic ceased on 9 September 1963, with complete closure following in February 1965). As part of the Swanline initiative, the present station was opened about to the west in June 1994. For a time under British Rail direct trains ran to London Waterloo, now passengers have to change at

to reach

Facilities

The station has 2 platforms: *Platform 1, for westbound trains towards Swansea *Platform 2, for eastbound trains towards Cardiff Central The station is unmanned - there is no ticket office nor are there any platform entry barriers. Passengers must purchase tickets on board trains.

Services

It is a stop on the

South Wales Main Line The South Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell De Cymru), originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain. ...

, served by

' Swanline Swansea to Cardiff regional trains. These services are generally every two hours during the day (including Sundays), with additional trains during the morning and evening peaks (some of which continue beyond Swansea onto the West Wales Line).GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Table 128

References

External links

Railway stations in Bridgend County Borough DfT Category F2 stations Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1876 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1994 South Wales Main Line Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail Beeching closures in Wales {{Wales-railstation-stub